Nearly one year removed from Tommy John surgery on his right elbow, Orioles catcher Matt Wieters made his long-awaited return last night. And he didn’t much time to shake the rust, going 2-for-3 with an RBI double and a sacrifice fly in a 5-2 win over the Indians at Progressive Field in Cleveland.

The game was tied 2-2 until Adam Jones hit a go-ahead solo home run off Shaun Marcum in the sixth. The Orioles got some insurance in the eighth inning when Jones had an RBI triple and Wieters drove him in with a sacrifice fly. Chris Tillman allowed two runs over 6 1/3 innings in the victory. He had been winless over his previous seven starts.

After losing five in a row, the Orioles have now won back-to-back games. While Baltimore is just 25-29 on the year, they are only 4 1/2 games out in the American League East. Finally having Wieters back behind the plate could go a long way in helping them close the gap.

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher has reversed course and will continue to pay minor leaguers. Fisher tells Slusser, “I concluded I made a mistake.” He said he is also setting up an assistance fund for furloughed employees.

The A’s decided in late May to stop paying paying minor leaguers as of June 1, which was the earliest date on which any club could do so after an MLB-wide agreement to pay minor leaguers through May 31 expired. In the event, the A’s were the only team to stop paying the $400/week stipends to players before the end of June. Some teams, notable the Royals and Twins, promised to keep the payments up through August 31, which is when the minor league season would’ve ended. The Washington Nationals decided to lop off $100 of the stipends last week but, after a day’s worth of blowback from the media and fans, reversed course themselves.

An @sfchronicle exclusive: A's owner John Fisher reverses course, apologizes: team will pay minor-leaguers; "I concluded I made a mistake," he tells me. He's also setting up an assistance fund for furloughed employees: https://t.co/8HUBkFAaBx)